PROJECTS & PEOPLE

Champion Development Group broke ground on The Burbank Collection in Burbank, Calif. It is the second phase of the Burbank Entertainment Village, a $90 million urban in-fill mixed-use development. The Burbank Collection will feature 118 condominiums, including 60 luxury lofts, along with 40,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Projected construction completion date is 2008.

Developers Malcolm Riley & Associates and Michael Asheghian formed a joint venture called Riley/Asheghian Associates to build the 270,000-square-foot Hesperia Plaza power center in High Desert, Calif. Construction will begin this fall, and completion is scheduled for April 2008.

Steven Casad has been named general manager of Plaza del Pasado, the collection of traditional restaurants, boutiques and cultural activities located in Old Town San Diego State Park. Casad previously served as general manager for retail and food services at several large-scale sports and entertainment venues including Petco Park and the 20,000 seat American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund is partnering with Fidelis Realty Partners to redevelop the 360,000-square-foot Marq*E Center in West Houston, Texas. The project is anchored by a large Edwards cinema and IMAX theater, and a Dave & Buster's dining-entertainment complex, and is home to a mix of dining, entertainment and retail establishments. Fidelis will be responsible for the center's day-to-day management; it will work with Canyon Johnson to reposition the property.

Staubach Retail appointed James E. Reilly as vice president for the northeast region. Reilly is based in Staubach's Philadelphia office. Most recently, he was vice president and director of retail at Corporate Realty Solutions, Inc. North American Properties has begun demolition at the 220,000-square-foot Merchant's Festival outside Atlanta as part of redeveloping the project. About 75 percent of the center will be replaced by a Target-anchored neighborhood center that will include 50,000 square feet of restaurant and small shop space. Target will open in July 2007, and redevelopment should be fully completed by that fall.

Turnberry Associates named Joseph C. Szymaszek vice president of retail operations for its major shopping centers. The properties include Aventura Mall in Aventura, Fla., Destin Commons in Destin, Fla., Genesee Valley in Flint, Mich., Town Square Las Vegas and Regal Hills in San Antonio. Szymaszek previously served as regional vice president for Mills Corp.

The Related Cos. Broke ground on the $56.7 million, 170,000-square-foot Hub Retail and Office Center in Bronx, N.Y. Tenants will include Staples, Rite Aid and Forman Mills, an apparel retailer. The Department of Finance also will relocate 225 employees to the new facility.

In April the San Diego-based company Sudberry Development Inc. began construction of Village Walk at EastLake. The 162,000-square-foot project, located in the master-planned community of EastLake in Chula Vista, Calif., is 76-percent pre-leased, and will include Borders Books, Pier 1, Trader Joe's and other large-format tenants. February 2007 is the scheduled completion date.

Bixby Land Company has appointed William “Bill” Halford as its president and CEO. Previously, Halford was president of Irvine Company's office/industrial property division. In his new position, he is replacing Terrance Dickens, who is retiring. LuskHarkin Architects and Planners has hired Don Rife, AIA, NCARB, as vice president of operations. Before joining LuskHarkin, Rife worked in design and marketing for JBA Architects, then as national operations manager for Moody/Nolan.

The R.H. Johnson Company appointed Andy Crimmins vice president. He will specialize in tenant representation, brokerage and development. Crimmins has more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate. He comes to R.H. Johnson from Williams-Sonoma, where he was director of real estate.

Sherif Ayad has left his position as design director of Pavlik Design Team; he worked at the award-winning retail design firm for nine years. Ayad now heads ID&Design International, an environmental branding firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. IDDI frequently works with up-and-coming designers to create concepts for retail, hospitality and mixed-use commercial spaces.

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. has hired David R. Levy as assistant general counsel. He reports to Vickie Berghel, senior vice president and general counsel. Prior to joining CBL, Levy worked for The May Department Stores Company, and before that he was a contract administrator with McDonnell Douglas.

In April, Platini Jeans opened its 11th store at The Shops at Las Americas, its first in San Diego County. The family-owned company sells American-made jeans as well as colored jeans collections. Bayer Properties opened The Summit Sierra in Reno, Nev., on March 15. The $100 million, 700,000-square-foot center is the first phase in Bayer's multistage plan for developing its 180-acre site. Tenants such as Apple, Williams-Sonoma and Lucky Brand Jeans are new to the Reno market. Bayer's next Summit project, located in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, will be a lifestyle center with hospital campus and residential units; it is a joint venture with Forest City Enterprises.

In March construction began on Boynton Town Center in Boynton Beach, Fla. The 400,000-square-foot shopping center is anchored by Super Target, Best Buy, Linens ‘n Things and Total Wine. In addition to in-line tenants, the project also will comprise 10,000 square feet of office and 1,200 residential units. Boynton Town Center is a collaboration between the Sembler Company, Compson Associates and South Florida Devco, Inc.

Tustin, Calif.-based Coreland Companies announced it was awarded six new management assignments in Southern California that total more than 1.1 million square feet. With the exception of a portfolio of 12 medical/office properties, the properties are all retail. The 495,000-square-foot Carousel Mall, located in San Bernardino, represents the largest assignment in the bunch; Coreland will manage the mall during extensive redevelopment.

The Sembler Company of St. Petersburg, Fla., will develop a 167,000-square-foot shopping center in Coral Springs. The company closed on the land in March, and the project, called North Springs Plaza, should be completed the same time in 2007. The anchors are Target and Ross Dress for Less. Forest City has appointed Kemel Blue, Jr., as regional vice president/general manager for NorthField at Stapleton, the 1.2-million-square-foot regional town center within Denver's tremendous Stapleton redevelopment project. Blue was most recently general manager of The Mall at Stonecrest in Atlanta. Diana Fiore will serve as the property's director of marketing.

Forest City Development California, Inc. announced that it will develop a 132-acre mixed-use project in Frisco, Texas. RTKL Associates, Inc. will serve as architect, and United Commercial Realty (UCR) as local leasing partner. The development will be in accordance with the City of Frisco's 2006 Comprehensive Plan, which calls for mixed-use, Main Street-style projects that foster community experiences. This is Forest City's third foray into the Dallas-Ft. Worth market in six months.

San Diego-based Graham Downes Architecture is designing the mixed-use master plan for an 11-acre parcel on the northern edge of downtown Las Vegas. BLOKHAUS, a development company founded by Graham Downes, is the developer. Besides office and retail uses, the project will include 500 condominium units geared to housing the growing local workforce. Construction should begin in 2007.

Barneys New York will open a flagship in the new Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino. The development is owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp., which also owns the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino next door. Palazzo, which will cost $1.6 billion to complete, includes a 450,000-square-foot luxury retail component called The Shoppes at The Palazzo, in which Barneys will be the anchor.

In Baltimore's Greektown neighborhood, KSI Services Inc. is building a $200 million development that features 1,085 units and 6,000 square feet of retail space for small day-to-day services like coffee shops and dry cleaners. The 14-acre site will also include a 55,000-square-foot park. Sperry Van Ness, one of the nation's largest commercial real estate investment brokerage firms, has expanded its presence into the St. Louis commercial real estate market by naming Mark Zvibleman as senior advisor. Previously, he was a vice president for Follman Properties.

Stephen Ziff, founder and CEO of Ziff Properties, Inc. announced that he will assume the role of chairman. Tim Walter, CFO of Ziff Properties, Inc. (ZPI), will become CEO in September. Roger Moss's chief leasing officer position will be eliminated, and Moss will serve as a consultant. Nan Nietert has been promoted to director of leasing and property management.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust announced that it has appointed Joseph F. Coradino to its Board of Trustees. Coradino, president of PREIT Services, LLC and PREIT-RUBIN, Inc., replaces Jonathan B. Weller, who resigned from the board in March.

Market Street-Montgomery Farm, a 700,000-square-foot, $140 million mixed-use development in Allen, Texas, is on track for immediate groundbreaking. It is a joint venture of Coventry Real Estate Advisors and Developers Diversified Realty. The partners have signed a letter of intent with United Supermarkets, Ltd. for a 63,000-square-foot Market Street specialty grocery store;

David S. Greensfelder has joined commercial real estate firm Rawson, Blum & Leon as vice president, acquisitions. Greensfelder was formerly the real estate director for Longs Drug Stores; in his new role, he will be assisting the development pipeline that RBL is currently building with its financial partner Weingarten Realty Investors. Further, Tim Noel has been promoted to vice president, asset management; he previously held the title of director of asset management.